secretary of defense, leon panetta, just days before massive across-the--board cuts are due to hit the pentagon. the president is pushing lawmakers on capitol hill to reach a deal before those automatic budget cuts begin on friday. >>> as ktvu's kyla campbell reports from our washington, d.c. newsroom, the president says republicans need to compromise. kyla? >> reporter: president obama warns that if lawmakers do not come up with a plan before friday, the country will have to dial with 8 $85 billion in cuts. house republicans passed legislation twice in recent months to make what they call common sense cuts. senate democrats ignored that and came up with a plan that includes raising taxes but republicans re-- refused to do that. they let taxes go up in january. mitch mcconnell just spoke on the senate floor, he said the president are telling americans there are only two options, a tax hike or armageddon. >> the president is a master of creating the impression of chaos as an excuse for government action. >> almost 60% of republicans across the country approach this balanced approach. the only re